


Awkward Introductions

by Madmarch



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: F/M, Human AU, cat Imp, landlord Bog, socially awkward Bog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 12:35:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4666704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madmarch/pseuds/Madmarch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bog and Marianne meet for the first time and there is a small case of mistaken identity.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Awkward Introductions

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tevlek](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tevlek/gifts).



Marianne was so excited to finally see her sister. It had been a whole month since Dawn had waved goodbye at the airport and while at first she was glad of the peace and quiet, it didn’t take long for her to miss her sister’s energy. Having spent the last few weeks backpacking around Europe, Marianne’s rucksack was overstuffed with gifts and souvenirs. Despite having dumped all of her toiletries in a valiant attempt to make room for everything, she had still had to pay a fine for exceeding the maximum weight allowed on the flight. Now she was standing outside Dawn’s flat, sweating profusely from having to drag the damned thing up four flights of stairs because the lift was out of order. She knocked and readied herself for one of her sister's all encompassing hugs. Hopefully she wouldn't end up with bruised ribs this time. Marianne realised that not only had no-one answered the door, but that there was also no sound coming from inside the flat. She knew that she should have called in advance but she had caught an earlier flight in the hope that she would surprise Dawn; she had really missed her little sister. Maybe she was asleep? After all, Dawn did have a tendency to nap in the afternoon simply because she spent most of the morning zipping around like a bee in the springtime. 

Just then she had a brain wave. She crouched down and flicked back the flowery doormat that welcomed visitors across the threshold. Lo and behold, there was a key. She really needed to have a word with her sister about her disregard for personal safety. Marianne snatched up the key and righted herself before jamming the key in the lock. With a twist and a shove she tumbled into the flat.

“Dawn! I’m home early, surprise!” She was met by silence. “Dawn, are you here?” There was faint mewl from one of the rooms followed by the appearance of a large white cat. It blinked languidly at Marianne before retreating back to its former hiding spot. “So much for a warm welcome,” she muttered as she dumped her bags in the corner. She was in desperate need of a shower and a toothbrush – chewing gum and baby wipes could only help so much. She quickly divested herself of her grubby clothes before dumping them in the wash basket and stepping into the shower cubicle.

  
**Meanwhile…**

  
“Yes Dawn I will feed the cat for you. Yes, I can do it tomorrow morning as well. No, it’s not too much trouble. You enjoy your night away with Sunny.” Bog ended the call with a sigh. He knew it had been a mistake letting her keep that thing. He was the landlord for pity’s sake, why didn’t he just stand firm and insist that the building had a no pet’s policy. It had all started when she had come home one day clutching a giant ball of fluff and begging him to bend the rules for her.  
“Look at him Bog! He’s wasting away!” She thrust the cat in his face. Bog raised an eyebrow; the cat looked rather well fed if you asked him. “I found him out by the bins and he looked so hungry and he doesn’t have a collar, oh please let me keep him!” He was going to say no. He had actually taken a breath and was about to say the word. Then she had jutted out her bottom lip and her eyes had glassed over with unshed tears and that was it. Like the flick of a switch he had sputtered out the word fine and promptly shut the door in her face before any actual tears were shed. “Thank you Boggy,” chirped Dawn, “I promise he won’t be any trouble.” Then he could hear her skip away whilst cooing nonsensical baby speak to the cat.

And now he had agreed to look after the bloody thing. Well at least the upshot of it all was a temporary respite from the ball of energy that was Dawn Fairwood. Bog honestly couldn’t understand how one person could be so happy all of the time; it was quite exhausting to be around.  
He locked the door to his own ground floor flat before climbing the stairs two at a time. He really should get that lift fixed but money was tight this month what with one of his tenants having moved out. Outside Dawn’s front door he produced a very large set of keys from his pocket. Dawn had seen these once and tried to suggest that he buy different coloured plastic covers to help him differentiate between all. Bog had flat out refused; especially when she had started throwing around words like ‘pink’ and ‘glittery’. He had a system, one that worked just fine for him.

He opened the door and made his way to the kitchen with long strides. Dawn had said that the food was in the lower cupboard next to the fridge. He quickly located it and squeezed the contents of a pouch into the cat’s bowl. He turned to place the bowl on the floor and almost tripped over the beast himself. “For Christ’s sake Imp! Could you at least give me some kind of warning that you’re there!” The cat looked at him with a bored expression and then looked at the bowl of food in Bog’s hand. Bog rolled his eyes in exasperation and slammed the food in front of Imp making the cat jump. Feeling smug at this small victory he turned to leave but suddenly became aware of the sound of running water coming from the bathroom. Bog was confused, there wasn’t supposed to be anyone in the apartment. Was it a burglar? But then, why on earth would they take a shower? He could hear whoever it was had turned the water off so he slowly approached the door and raised his hand to push it open. Suddenly it swung inwards to reveal a petite woman wrapped in a towel; her short dark hair was dripping water onto the vinyl floor.

Marianne’s eyes widened in shock at the sight of a tall, gangly looking man standing in front of her. His face was scrunched in a scowl and his thick eyebrows and angled jaw made him look all the more menacing. She gasped loudly and shut the door in his face. Oh God, someone had broken in and now they knew she was here too. Crap! What the hell should she do? Her phone was outside in her bag, there was no way she could reach it to call the police without him noticing. She needed a weapon! Her eyes scanned over the shelves in the small bathroom and landed on a pair of nail scissors. It wasn’t much but it would have to do. She steeled herself, grasping the small scissors like a dagger and raising her fist ready to strike. She swung open the door and with a battle cry worthy of Boudicca herself, she launched herself at the invader.

Bog, who had retrieved his phone from his pocket and was about to call the police, looked up at the sound of the bathroom door re-opening. He didn’t have time to react as the unfamiliar woman charged at him. He was surprised when she flung herself into the air with such force that her impact caused him to stagger backwards. On instinct he grabbed hold of her and in doing so managed to dislodge the towel that was tightly wrapped around her torso. Her wet hair was still dripping water everywhere and in the chaos, Bog slipped.

Both of them came crashing down and unfortunately for Bog, he had no option but to take the full force of the collision with the floor. Slightly dazed he opened his eyes to find her straddling him; one hand grasped his t-shirt in her fist whilst the other pressed something sharp to his throat. Her wet hair hung in limp tendrils around her face and her amber eyes burned with fury. It was then that he realised that she was also very naked. Bog blinked. He also became aware of the fact that not only was she very much naked and straddling him, but that the hold she had on him meant that her chest was brushing against his torso and that she was breathing quite heavily from the exertion of the last few moments; which, when coupled with the chill she must feel having just come out of the shower, meant that the area in question was becoming somewhat stimulated. He decided that if she didn’t kill him, he was most certainly going to die of embarrassment.

“Who the fuck are you? And what the hell do you think you are doing in my sister’s apartment?”

Sister? Bog blinked again and wondered if the red glow on her cheeks was a result of her apparent anger or was in fact a reflection of his own burning visage. He opened his mouth to reply but anything he might have had to say came out as a strangled, choking sound. Using the hand clutching his t-shirt, she lifted him a fraction of the floor and slammed him back down. “I asked you a goddamn question! Now either start talking or I will make you hurt in ways that you can only imagine!”

Oh dear lord she’s trying to kill me, thought Bog. He was pretty sure that he was now scarlet and although he was resolutely staring at her face, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t feel the result of her sudden movement. If he didn’t do something soon he was pretty sure that he was going to spontaneously combust. They would write it on his gravestone. Here lies Bog, he literally died of embarrassment. His mother would probably still cry at his funeral but knowing her they would likely be tears of laughter.

“Cat” he squeaked. She looked confused. “I came to feed the cat.”  
At this they both looked towards the kitchen and lo and behold, there was Imp; watching them both with possibly the faintest hint of amusement.  
“Is it… is it smiling?” asked Marianne.  
Bog turned his head to look at her again, “Yeah, he does that sometimes. I hit my thumb with a hammer when I was putting a picture up for Dawn. Bloody thing grinned at me, teeth and all.”  
“Wait, why were you putting a picture up for Dawn? Come to think of it, why are you here feeding the cat?” she seemed to suddenly realise something and her nose wrinkled in disapproval. “Are you Dawn’s boyfriend?” she asked.  
Bog balked at the suggestion. He had come to think of the annoying little pixie-woman in a brotherly sort of way, so the very suggestion that the two of them might be an item was absurd. “God no! I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s is a lovely lass but she’s not my type at all! That honour goes to Sunny, who is probably wining and dining her as we speak.”  
Marianne had gone back to looking confused so he continued to ramble. “Sunny took Dawn away for the night as a last minute surprise; something about it being their three week anniversary. A bit daft if you ask me but she seemed thrilled by it. I’m Bog by the way, the landlord. Am I right in guessing your Dawn’s sister?”  
Marianne nodded.  
“Am I also right in guessing that she has no idea that you were coming to see her?”  
Another nod.  
“Well, um… if you don’t mind… that is, now that you know who I am” Bog gulped and was quickly reminded of the sharp object still being held there, “would you kindly get off?”  
Her eyes went wide again and she sprung to her feet. Bog barely had time to close his eyes.  
“Sorry! Sorry!” She made a dash for the towel and quickly wrapped it around herself. Turning back to Bog she could see that he had remained on the floor and that his eyes tightly shut. He was still bright red and her mouth inadvertently quirked in a smile.  
“Bog.”  
“Yes.”  
“It’s ok, I’m decent now.”  
He slowly cracked one eye open and when he saw that she was indeed telling the truth, he opened his eyes fully. She walked over and stuck out a hand. He took it and a moment later he was upright. He blinked in surprise; she was pretty strong for such a wee thing. Then again, he really should have gathered that from her display earlier.  
There was an awkward pause and Bog realised that he was still holding her hand. However, before he could extract himself she had pulled on his arm so that his face was now level with hers. She smirked at his obvious bewilderment and then noticed just how blue his startled gaze was. She leaned towards him and had to bite her lip to stop herself laughing at his sharp intake of breath.  
“Thanks for being a gentleman and not peeking,” she murmured in his ear before pressing a kiss to his cheek. She turned on her heel and sauntered off towards one of the bedroom.  
This time Bog was definitely looking as her hips swayed with each step. He stood there for a few more seconds, frozen in shock. THAT was Dawn’s sister? Saint’s have mercy, he was in trouble now! He thought a cold shower would probably be appropriate given the circumstances. That prompted unbidden thoughts of Marianne in the shower and he made that odd choking sound again before frantically scrambling out the front door and back to the safety of his own home.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever fic so I'm going to have to dedicate this to the lovely Chaboffle because she is the one that tripped me up in the tumblr cafeteria and caused me to faceplant the floor that is the Strange Magic fandom.  
> I really hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please, please, please give me plenty of feedback! I know my writing skills need polishing and I've probably done a mediocre job of editing this, but I will learn.


End file.
